Started!

Finally, after ages of planning, reading and thinking I've just got a fresh Jart stab out of the bag, very chuffed as it's my second bagging attempt and the wow factor when you open a "To Dad, From Dad" present inside the bag is superb!

The leading edge and trailing edges just need trimming now.

Craig Goodrum and Evan Shaw's composite courses at AMT made it go pretty easy so it's on to the wings which came out great (thanks Mike for the template tip! - use thick Formica and a home-made feather cut).

The wings are going to be two piece for ease of transport. I discussed the wing joiner rod with Craig and I'm going to use the tows-in-a-disappearing-aluminium-tube idea. Pictures to follow as it's being done.

Thanks again Mike for your help and Reed for the generosity with the free plans for this beautiful plane!

Vic

About to start

Got the plan from Reed awhile ago and been threatening to start. Finally had chat to Adrian and see that I have a lot to learn and a long way to go. Anyway have made the decision to plunge headlong into this build. Going to get pdf printed and buy some foam and get started. (My son is on 6 weeks holidays and if I get going maybe I can entice him to get his hands dirty)


Here goes.

Jart 3 Canopy

Some good progress this last weekend on this build, I managed to join together all the big pieces,and it is now a Jart.













I fill the join lines and the wing shoulder gusset with micro balloons and some cloth on the wing and tailplane join lines.

After carefully cutting out the canopy, I make two small pieces in the mould, I dont spray the mould , the yellow in this case is pigment in the resin, these are the rough pieces on the wing nearest.











These pieces o about 4 layers of cloth are cut so that they fit on the inside of the fuselage and being flexable and more or less the right contour,
are easy to position and epoxy in place.











In this photo the lip is epoxied in place and the pegs hold two pieces of ply , which will be drilled to accept two small self tapping screws which hold the canopy on.










In the final picture the tear drop canopy has been sprayed black and the rest final coats of yellow.

Next I need to cut out the ailerons and elevator and wire up the servos.

At the moment it weighs 740 grams and feels lightish but battery , radio gear and balancing will change all that.

Hope this one flies even better than the red one.

I have done a slightly different canopy shape, but still starting ahead of the leadind edge so that I can still fit in a fair battery pack and full size receiver in its protective foam.

Some stripes next to tell the top from the bottom , important when doing rolls as these things roll , at a rate nothing short of a frenzy.

Jart 3

Nothing like practice, Jart 3 the white fuselage popped out the moulds no problem. If you build a glass model that you think you may want several of , its always a good idea to pull a mould, especially off a smaller model .If one crashes (does that ever happen to you) you can simply make another.

I am pleased ,I had made a mould , as my RED jart flies great so it is a well proven design. It also allows a fair amount of experimentation , with different lay-ups.

I am sure ,Glen from Durban will appreciate this as he is busy with his Jart using the lost foam technique, and the accompaning sanding and sanding.

PS. for the very sharp eyed, you will note I had in fact previously built a white fuselage so this is in fact Jart 4 , that one was traded to a licensed Jart Plan owner for 4 sheets of blue foam a fair swap I think.

JART no 2 and 3

A little Jart building at last, I sprayed up my moulds a nice rich yellow some months ago and put them aside to finish other projects . Recent outings with my red Jart have really been fun so time to get cracking on number 2 Jart, you cant have to much of a good thing ,you know.

The fuselage came out nice and strong and is now ready to be cut for wings, tailplane and canopy.

The yellow wing is blue foam with 1 layer of 104 gr glass then a lengthways 100 gr UD carbon and finally a 163 gr glass at 45 degress, it all feels nice and stiff and now needs to be trimmed and cleaned up on the leading and trailing edges.

The current weight of these two parts is 680 grams , but it still needs assembly of a tailplane and radio gear. they fly great at about 1.2 to 1.5kg in a fair blow.


With several "white" model projects on the go I always keep my moulds waxed up , and if for some reason some mixed 2k is available I go ahead and spray any excess paint into the next mould , so white it is . These fuselages are also perfect for using up all those off cuts of glass , these I sort and store in seperate plastic bags by glass weight and shapes.

















The third Jart out of the mould is going to be white , and I laid up some ud carbon cross ways
were the wing and taiplane bond onto the fuselage.
Some nice red and blue striping would make this an attractive colour scheme?
go build your own Jart.

Glen Jart progress

I did tell you not to expect too much progress in the short term, but surprisingly, there has been a little.... Last Friday I was able to hand the "completed to this stage" fuselage over to Jacques for him to cut the wings,fin etc. Once this has been done, I will take the fuz back, blend in the wing fillets and fin, and prep for final spray of undercoat and colour. Did I mention that Jacques is planning to make his Jart a 2 piece removable wing option, so that transport to and from the slope is easier?


Again, many thanks to Mike May for his invaluable advice and motivation, especially during the epoxy and balloons/sanding stages.


Pictures of the project so far.....














Lots of carbon goodness for extra strength and vitalty.



Done at last - after lots of filling and sanding. Maybe my lack of glassing skills have something to do with it.

See what Mike Ma(y)de me do!

Well, it all started with Adrian B in Cape Town being reluctant to part with a blemished Jart fuselage and then followed by the non appearance of Santa down my chimney in December 2007, so it was decided that there was only one thing left to do! Seeing as the mysteries of composite construction were being unravelled to this newbie via another project I had embarked on (also coutesy of Mike May and the Sungazer event), I decided that, with advice from Mike only being a phone call away, that I would try my hand at this Jart thing. Please, dont expect miracles and hope to see this thing fly before December this year (2008), as I am a slow builder with LOTS of distractions. I checked the other day - I received my plans from Reed in March 2006! (does that tell you something).


By the way, this plane is being built for my flying buddy and neighbour Jacques, who will be assisting along the way.


Here is the progress (or lack of) so far....

Fuselage shaped out of isoboard foam, with first layer of very thin glass cloth added. Dont ask me details such as weight of glass cloth etc because I dont have a clue - I just do what Mike tells me to.....

More to follow in the coming months.